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Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

Hi....exciting!
Mason bees will normally emerge from their winter cocoons around the time of fruit tree blooms- that varies with the region of course. If you get your boxes set up before the fruit trees in your area bloom, you will be ok.
I've read they will also emerge after experiencing 3 consecutive days of 50F or higher.

I put up my mason boxes last week during a warm spell, but I don't expect any bees to be active yet. We too are having another cold spell- highs in the 40's, nightime lows in the teens and twenties. Nothing blooming here yet either.
It's still way too early for the native bees to be active or nesting.
Last year I put up my nesting boxes on March 18th, but my mason cocoons didn't start hatching til April 2nd.
One thing to remember- the males will hatch first, but some of the later females may take as long as another two weeks to emerge- don't toss them away accidentally thinking they are no good!

Last edited by Omie; 03-23-2011 at 02:44 PM.

The little bee returns with evening's gloom,
To join her comrades in the braided hive... -Tennyson

Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

Just North of the U.S. Border here in White Rock BC the temperature reached +17C today and 5% of my Mason Bees emerged. Just one day later then they started emerging last year. It's my experience that the rest of them will emerge now over about 3-4 weeks. With the first females emerging probably next week sometime. Dandelions and several other flowers are out in full force. The Cherry tree blooms look like they will open any day along with the Pear tree. Apple looks a week or two out yet, but very excited my 3rd year of Mason Bees has now begun today

Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

I should mention until this afternoon my bees were in the detached garage in the dark where it's always about 2-3 degrees Celsius cooler. But even with that they started emerging today. So they are now all outside beside my homes for 2011. It seems typical that a few days above 13C or a big spike above like today starts the emergence process for them.

Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

That's cool, Borderbee.
It's still more winter-like here where I am in NY- we have no hint of any dandelions blooming yet, no fruit tree blooms....only the crocuses are blooming yet, and it's well below freezing every night still. Where is our Spring??

The little bee returns with evening's gloom,
To join her comrades in the braided hive... -Tennyson

Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

If you look to our website, http://www.crownbees.com, we suggest that you should just be tracking nature's path. I'd keep your bees in the cooler/refrigerator until you see enough pollen in bloom. The bees can last through April in their cocoons before you start seeing mortality occuring.

Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

I can understand why some would want to delay or stagger release times to get the maximum pollination on certain trees, or to avoid death if there is a late frost. But I avoid refrigeration and just keep my cocoons slightly cooler in a dark shaded shed and do my best to control moisture / humidity. I figure when nature kicks in and they start emerging in those conditions it's time to put them out. It's also been after various flowers and plants have started blooming so I know there is enough pollen available. We don't usually get frost this late, but if there was a warning I would bring the cocoons back in. My bees seem to naturally stagger emerging over about a month.

Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

At a Blue Orchard Bee conference in Modesto last December, one of the ARS experiments reports was on "mortality and energy of BOB's under a normal winter condition and a regulated one."

Basic answer was that bees hibernated under a consistent 4 C or 39F temperature had better survival rates and came out with much greater energy than those subjected to a normal winter swing temperatures.

Granted, this conference was full of professionals wanting to have every bee survive and come forth with exuberance into their blossoms. And most people reading this forum aren't in that need.

In the grand scheme, it's survival of the fittest in most backyards, which is fine. For those who have a need to achieve a solid pollination of their orchard, I'd suggest they refrigerate.

In this formu topic of when to put them out? I look to acheive maximum production. Forcing a staggared release is probably as good a natural one. we're trying to not have dispersal. If later emerging bees see activity already within a set of holes, they're more likely to hang around and join in.

Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

I don't have any bees to put out this year, being my first. I just wondered when the best time to put my houses out. I don't want the local bees going elsewhere because I didn't get my houses out in time

I'm going to put them out this weekend and see how the light/weather hits them. If nobody moves in for a few more weeks I have time to change my locations.

Switching to bumble bee houses, I have 4 to put out. Do they all go on the ground? I assume I need to put something heavy on them to keep skunks and possums from tipping them over in an attempt to get inside???

Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

Originally Posted by Renthorin

I'm going to put them out this weekend and see how the light/weather hits them. If nobody moves in for a few more weeks I have time to change my locations.
Will

My masons like to be positioned so the early morning sun warms the boxes, but the height of the day in the heat or rain they will be protected from rain and shaded from intense heat.
These boxes get the first morning sun on them:http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9fPBEJTqGz...-April2010.jpg

The little bee returns with evening's gloom,
To join her comrades in the braided hive... -Tennyson

Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

At a Blue Orchard Bee conference in Modesto last December, one of the ARS experiments reports was on "mortality and energy of BOB's under a normal winter condition and a regulated one."

I will report back on how the mortality goes this year. I'm still small backyard scale as you say, but last year I was 45 of 45 successful emergence, so 0% mortality. This year I gave a way quite a few cleaned cocoons, but kept 100 so I will have to see how mortality plays a factor this year. I don't think my wife or the environment wants me to have a bee fridge just yet...

Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

I put out my two bumblebee nesting boxes today, in two sheltered low shady spots in my yard. I half-buried them and heaped wood chip mulch over them so just the front hole was showing. For bedding, i had saved up a whole bunch of wool and cotton dryer lint (no fabric softener) and mixed it up with wads of cat hair from brushing my cats. I figure mouse nests typically have lots of deer hair, rabbit fur, and bird feathers in them.
So I'll keep an eye on them.
My mason boxes have been up for a week with no wild visitors yet. My saved cocoons are still in the fridge since none of the fruit trees are blooming yet- just the willow trees, and a couple of maples starting. I will put the cocoons out in emergence boxes in another few days when bushes start blooming.
Meanwhile, I haven't seen any wild bumblebees or mason bees out and about at all yet- a late Spring!
My honeybees have not made any drones yet either.

The little bee returns with evening's gloom,
To join her comrades in the braided hive... -Tennyson

Re: When to put out Mason and Bumble houses?

Spring seems to be getting later and later.... My first couple female Osmia Lignaria finally emerged today, a full 3 weeks later than last year and almost a month later than in 2009. Forecast is for great weather this long weekend though which will hopefully bring the rest out.